Online weight management consultations in Manila

Weight management care for people in Manila

Obra Health provides care through telehealth, and it can serve patients in all cities in the Philippines, Manila included. Obra is a telehealth platform, not a pharmacy.

Here is how it works. You start with a free assessment. A licensed doctor reviews it. If the doctor prescribes it, Obra connects you with a pharmacy that offers compounded semaglutide or compounded tirzepatide, prepared by a licensed pharmacist. Obra itself does not prescribe or dispense medicines.

Compounded semaglutide is a different product from Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, and compounded tirzepatide is a different product from Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Manila's heat, side by side with the pen labels

PAGASA's climate normals for its Port Area station in Manila (1991 to 2020) show an average daily maximum of 31.6 °C across the year. April is the hottest month, at an average daily maximum of 33.8 °C.

The storage wording on the Philippine package inserts is:

• Ozempic (insert for BR-1326): before first use, "Store in a refrigerator (2°C to 8°C)". After first use, it "may be stored for a maximum of 6 weeks. Store below 30°C or in a refrigerator (2°C to 8°C)."
• Wegovy FlexTouch (insert for BR-1468): after first use, 6 weeks, "Store below 30°C or in a refrigerator (2°C to 8°C)."
• Mounjaro KwikPen (insert for DR-XY49504 and DR-XY49505): "After first use 30 days. Store unrefrigerated at room temperature below 30 ºC." Before first use, "Store in a refrigerator (2 ºC [to] 8 ºC). Do not freeze."

So PAGASA's average daily maximum for Manila in April is 33.8 °C, and the Philippine package inserts say to store these pens below 30 °C after first use (Ozempic and Wegovy FlexTouch: or in a refrigerator). This page adds nothing beyond the labels. Our guide to storing GLP-1 pens sets out every label in full.

PhilHealth and regulator offices for Manila

For PhilHealth matters, the PhilHealth directory lists a Local Health Insurance Office in the city: the JARS Building, 1810 J.P. Laurel St., San Miguel, Manila. The regional office for Metro Manila, PRO NCR, is in Quezon City.

For medicine questions, the regulator is FDA Philippines. Its field office for the National Capital Region is in Filinvest City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, according to the FDA List of Offices (2024). The NCR office is in Muntinlupa City, not in the City of Manila.

The Department of Health's regional office is the Metro Manila Center for Health Development. The DOH lists it with the contact chd_mm@yahoo.com and (02) 8531-0037.

Metro Manila's health figures in brief

The City of Manila had 1,902,590 people in the 2024 Census. It sits in the National Capital Region, where the PSA classifies every barangay as urban.

Regional figures from the 2023 National Nutrition Survey (adults aged 20 to 59) put the region above the national level on two measures:

• Overweight or obesity: 65.9% in the National Capital Region, against 57.1% for the Philippines.
• High fasting blood glucose: 11.9% in the region, against 7.5% nationally.

These are regional survey estimates for all of Metro Manila. No city-level figure for Manila was found. The full set of sourced facts, with links, is in the "Health facts for Manila" table on this page.

Getting a prescription legally

Republic Act No. 10918, the Philippine Pharmacy Act, says in Sec. 33: "Prescription medicines may be dispensed only by a duly registered and licensed pharmacist and only with a valid prescription of a physician, dentist, or veterinarian."

In the Obra process, a licensed doctor reviews your assessment first, and any compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide the doctor prescribes is prepared by a licensed pharmacist.

Checking a product and reporting a problem

The FDA Philippines Verification Portal, at verification.fda.gov.ph, is where the agency tells the public to check a product's registration. Our guides explain how to check a registration and how to spot fake GLP-1 pens.

To report a suspected unregistered or counterfeit product, FDA Philippines asks the public to use ereport@fda.gov.ph or its online platform, e-Sumbong, on www.fda.gov.ph.